Those Left Behind
by IronChainDragon
Summary: If you are not human, can you change the fate of humanity? Or will it all fade into Shadows? The fog is deep, and everything humanity was has been lost to it. Or, how a Shadow, an ex-elevator attendant, some animals, and a couple of robots fought Izanami. Everything fades, but what happens to those left behind?
1. Foggy Skies

Daichi: I just thought of this recently, and decided it would be interesting.

Verity: If we owned this, it would be a spinoff or something.

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When the fog returned, humans lost their sense of self. They couldn't fight back. They couldn't think for themselves. There was no hope remaining. Well, there was for one.

Bright blue eyes peered out of the window at Yasogami High. The emergence of Shadows into this world had forced his hand. As long as the school gates remained locked, ground-bound Shadows and wandering humans couldn't get in. There was, ideally, enough for him to survive on.

His fur had been the first sacrifice, as that part of town had been overrun, and there was no time. He could live with that. The fox and her cubs had come along, for their own sake. The spot where he was was easily the safest place in Inaba.

Sometimes he wondered, just where had they gone wrong? Where did they mess up so badly, that he was again alone?

Teddie didn't have an answer.

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When the food ran out, he was the one to get it. For one thing, he had hands. The humans couldn't think to bother him, and the Shadows wouldn't attack one of their own. As long as there was canned food left, he and the foxes could easily get by. He wasn't going to give up, though. There had to be a way to clear the fog and return everyone to normal.

At the edge of town was something new. He had no idea when the plane had landed, but there it was, door open to the world. He had never had the chance to be on a plane before. There wasn't anyone else nearby, either, so it should be safe. Hauling himself up so he could crawl through the door, he briefly wondered where everyone had gone. Most likely managed to open the doors by accident and wander out.

It was a cargo plane, with just one box. His curiosity got the better of him at times. This was one of them. He couldn't carry the box back to the school, especially because he needed to bring back food, if not for himself, than for the foxes. Still, it couldn't be that hard to open.

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She hadn't expected to be activated again. A stirring in the back of her mind told her that something wasn't right, but she didn't need to be told. Sitting up, she understood several things at once.

First, this was not the lab.

Second, this was a plane.

Third, and most urgent, was the boy in front of her. He seemed surprised, like he hadn't meant to activate her. More than that, something about him just wasn't right. Not that she could say anything about that.

The boy's face relaxed into some sort of smile quickly enough, however. "Why, hello, miss! What's your name?" Could she trust him? Was there a choice?

"Fifth Generation Anti Shadow Suppression Weapon Labrys." She didn't know if he understood the meaning of Shadow, but she needn't have worried. "Now, who're you?"

"Teddie. I'm Teddie."

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Meanwhile, someplace very different, another robot was working hard for something: trying to figure out how to lift the fog that had basically turned her friends into zombies. Next to her, a silver haired woman and a Shiba Inu were facing a powerful Shadow. Still, they left it to her to deal the final blow.

Brief choices flickered through her mind, different Personas desiring their moment in the spotlight. Pallas Athena, Orpheus, Thanatos... so many wanted to be the one to destroy this Shadow. She picked the first one she had fused on her own, albeit a simple fusion with materials already present in the Compendium.

"Nata Taishi! Sonic Punch!" The Shadow was destroyed, but the fog was not. This one was not responsible, either. Disheartened, the group left.

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The robotic Fool clutched her Velvet Key, while behind her the woman gripped tightly on the dog to be able to pull him in. The Velvet Room worked differently depending on the circumstances, and it made a perfectly fine temporary shelter. When they entered, Igor was sitting in his usual spot, Theodore and Margaret right beside him, as always.

"Our mission ended in success." She stated. What did it matter? As far as she knew, those gathered in the Velvet room were the only sentient beings remaining.

"Good. Now, Aigis, Elizabeth, Koromaru... I have an idea as to the source of this fog. I do not know how to lift it, but I can tell you how to meet someone with more information on the matter."

If what he said was true, then maybe, just maybe, she could have her friends back, actually as her friends, and not mindless zombies. "How?"

"Go to Inaba, and seek out the one that sees in the fog. There you will find your answers." Could he be any more cryptic? And wasn't that the place with all of the recent murders? Not that that one mattered, but... well, there wasn't much of a choice...

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...Which was how, the next day, Aigis found herself hijacking a train. Koromaru informed her that she had run over a little girl. She couldn't bring herself to care.

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Daichi: The idea for this was that Izanami was experimenting with human wishes. So the main characters are all decidedly not human. Everyone that hasn't died bey the P4 normal ending is technically still alive... except for Maiko... who Aigis just hit with a train. They can't think for themselves, these things happen.


	2. Confrontation

Daichi: So, last time, Aigis was sent in the direction of Inaba by Igor, and she hit Maiko with a train.

Verity: We don't own these things.

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Unfortunately for Aigis, trains do not go everywhere. Several transfers later, she was in Okina Station waiting for Elizabeth, who had wandered off somewhere. Had all been ideal, they would have been in Inaba the night before. However, they had decided to extract the little girl's mangled body from the first train, and Elizabeth wanted to check all of the towns that they visited. So this turned an afternoon trip into a much longer trip.

She wondered, who was she searching for? While evidence suggested that the fog kept the wandering humans alive so long as nothing happened to physically harm them, there were no humans awake in the fog. Whoever she was searching for, she knew she might not be able to trust them. Still, any answers were better than what she had.

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For Teddie, the night before had been... interesting. Labrys had asked why he could see in the fog when she couldn't, and why he wasn't wandering aimlessly like the other humans. He had avoided the questions. He honestly wouldn't mind never answering them. It was safer that way.

He stopped for a moment to peer out of the window. Ground bound Shadows couldn't get it, but that didn't prevent fliers from making their way to the windows occasionally. He could summon in the fog, he knew it somehow, but that didn't stop it from being an irritation.

Five. That was three more than arrived the previous day. He could handle being outnumbered, but he didn't know if it was worth the risk. He didn't have a choice.

Outside the room, Labrys started moving towards the exit. He called out for her. "Labby-chan!"

She turned toward him for just a moment, before continuing on her way. Given her purpose, he wasn't really worried, but... if anything happened, he wouldn't have anyone to talk to anymore. Near the door, the fox turned to him, pushing forward a package of leaves. Without anyone to provide upkeep for the shrine, she didn't ask for money. After all, it didn't have any value in a world with nobody to accept it.

He picked up the package and ran after Labrys.

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He could hardly keep Labrys in sight. For whatever reason, despite her strength, the Shadows always dived at him first. They were easy enough to take out, but he had to wonder why it was him that was always the first target.

Well, he had an idea. It wasn't certain, but he thought he knew why. It wouldn't explain why it took so long for the effects to be apparent, but having a smaller group helped with that. He supposed he could have asked Labrys for confirmation, but that would require telling her everything. And he could, just...

It just wasn't something he wanted to admit.

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Next stop Inaba. If this weren't post fog apocalypse, that was what would be playing on the train's speakers at the moment. Final stop Inaba. That's what the route said, and if they failed, it probably really would be the last stop.

They hadn't run over any more children, which was a good thing. They didn't need to be the direct cause of another human death. The Shadows she had seen wandering, that was another story.

It was strange. The Shadows appeared everywhere, yet mainly they stuck to areas of previous activity. A point of familiarity, she supposed. Yet the town they were coming up on, Inaba, had strong readings scattered everywhere. Had this entire town been an area of Shadow activity? When? The computers back at headquarters had never pulled up anything unusual. Sure, there was occasional activity, everywhere had Shadows in some capacity, but never in a way that caused them to gather like this. Could this town be the source of the fog?

When the train pulled in at the station, she noticed two figures just outside. One of them was familiar to her, in a way, and the other...

The other was a Shadow.

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When the train pulled in at the station, he wondered why. The trains weren't running anymore. There was nobody to drive them. So he was on his guard.

That proved a good idea, as he noticed the Persona immediately, and didn't bother trying to lie to himself. He hadn't known there were other Persona users out there, but it wasn't that surprising. Someone had to have built Labrys, even if she didn't yet have a Persona of her own. More than that, the one who summoned this Persona, they knew.

Losing his fur might have cost him in defense, but in return, he was fast. Ducking down, the High Pixie's Zionga just barely missed. He was good at dodging electricity, but noticing the attack before it was launched was what had saved him.

He didn't really hold it against his attacker, though. His sensei had done similar things to other Shadows on principle. Straightening up again, he finally caught a glimpse of the High Pixie's summoner. Another robot. This was not good, but...

He summoned Kamui-Moshiri, not to attack, but to show that he wasn't a normal Shadow. Another figure, that looked human but wasn't, grabbed the new robot's wrist. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he didn't want to approach. They might take it as a threat, and that would be bad.

Finally, the robot dismissed her Persona, which he took as a sign to do the same. She stepped forward, and the purpose in her stride frightened him. Labrys wasn't saying or doing anything, just as surprised as he was.

She stopped in front of him, and it took everything in him not to inch back. "What are you?" She asked.

He knew he didn't need to answer that. Her attacking him proved that she already knew what he was going to say. Still, he also knew that High Pixie was a Persona that had a rather limited skillset. That Zionga was probably the worst she had. "I'm..." He couldn't.

As if sensing his panic, she stepped back a little. "Able to speak... do you have a name?"

That, he could say more easily. "I'm Teddie." She nodded, as if taking in this information.

"Aigis."

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Daichi: So, they managed to not kill each other. That's good, right?


	3. Beginning of New Bonds

Daichi: This is going to begin with Aigis' side of her... misunderstanding with Teddie and go from there.

Verity: We don't own these.

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Aigis emerged from the train, eyes locked on the Shadow. Her analysis skills weren't as good as Fuuka's, or even Mitsuru's, but it could get the job done. This Shadow had the Star Arcana- strange, they never had that Arcana- and wasn't affected by Bufu, but was weak to Zio. There was something else, but she didn't know what.

"High Pixie! Zionga!" A Ziodyne would perhaps have done the job better, but she currently had no Personas that could use that skill. She expected attacking preemptively to have done something.

The Shadow dropped down, the attack just barely missing it. The lamppost right behind it wasn't so lucky. She expected the Shadow to charge right in and attack, and yet again, it defied her expectations, simply standing up straight. Suddenly, a large figure appeared behind it.

Elizabeth grabbed her wrist. "Aigis-san, I do believe that the Shadow means us no harm. If he did, then wouldn't his Persona have attacked us by now?" Persona. That Shadow had a Persona? It should have been impossible, but the evidence was right there. Shocked, she dismissed High Pixie. Immediately, the figure behind the Shadow vanished as well.

She approached the Shadow, and took time to actually look at him. He had the appearance of a human male with light hair. He looked straight at her. Blue eyes. Just like...

"What are you?" For a moment he didn't answer.

"I'm..." He cut himself off, as though unsure of what to say. She stepped back a little, noting that he seemed to be frightened of her.

"Able to speak... do you have a name?" If he didn't, she was going to call him Ryoji 2.0. The similarities between the two were astounding. Thanatos stirred in the back of her head, acknowledging how apt the comparison was.

"Teddie." She could detect a waver of fear in his voice. Still, if he told her his name, she supposed she should return the favor.

"Aigis." The other figure that had stood nearby approached.

"And what was that all about just now?" A Kansai accent, and the astounding sense of familiarity overwhelmed her once again. This time, she understood it. "I wasn't aware they made others."

"You must be my older sister, Labrys. I'd heard Mitsuru-san was going to reactivate you, before the fog came." Teddie caught on to that quickly.

"So, you're Labby-chan's little sister?" She'd stayed on her guard until this point, but it had grown impossible to believe that this boy meant anyone harm. And that was probably a good thing as well. Immunities and resistances normally didn't come together at this level, plus ability to dodge. If Teddie had meant to harm them, odds were that they would already be dead.

Behind her, Koromaru and Elizabeth had left the train, carrying all of the items that they had brought along. Most had been looted from the Paulownia Mall. Spare ammunition, extra armor, replacement blades, medicines, food. Purely the essentials.

Before she could introduce her companions, however, they heard a sound she had long learned to fear. The sound of rattling chains. Teddie heard it, too.

"This is bad. Beary bad. We need to get back to the school, before it finds us." She agreed. A run-in with the Reaper was something she wouldn't care for on a good day. Certainly not with this fog. Somehow, it was thicker than it had been in Iwatodai. And there was a Reaper here, too. She could only trust this strange Shadow, and hope for the best.

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Aigis hadn't known what to expect of the place where Teddie and Labrys had found shelter, but she couldn't help but question it. At least, until she saw the locked gate. For whatever reason, Shadows didn't pass locked doors anymore. It certainly hadn't been that way when she was in school, but she wasn't complaining.

Teddie hopped the fence with ease, before helping Labrys over. Aigis slipped before she could get over, while Elizabeth jumped over with Koromaru.

Once they were safely over the fence, Elizabeth spoke up. "I don't believe I have introduced myself. I, Elizabeth, am Aigis' assistant, and this is our pet, Koromaru."

"Elizabeth-san, you know as well as I do that Koromaru-san is not just a pet." Koromaru barked in agreement. "We should introduce ourselves properly. I am seventh-generation Anti-Shadow Weapon Aigis, of the Fool and Aeon Arcanas. I can use several Personas, but my first was Palladion, which changed into Pallas Athena. Koromaru-san is of the Strength Arcana, and his Persona is Cerberus. His preferred elements are Mudo and Agi."

"I, Elizabeth, have access to Aigis' Persona Compendium, and can use any Persona from it I so choose. However, I prefer Pixie."

"Because you taught her Megidolaon." Aigis deadpanned.

"...Maybe." Humanity was doomed. She filed that thought away before it could get to her.

"Now, as we have introduced ourselves, you should do the same. It would help to know what we are working with."

"I'm Labrys. I don't have a Persona, but I do have an axe." Her sister's voice was full of confidence that she could defeat any wayward Shadows. Aigis wondered if the other robot knew that one of them was standing next to her, perfectly comfortable in spite of everything.

"I, well..." He stumbled over his words just a little, before pulling himself together. "i have the Star Arcana, and my first Persona was Kintoki-Douji, which became Kamui, and later Kamui-Moshiri. I can use Bufu and Dia, and several kinds of status buff, and I know what the local Shadows are strong and weak against." His smile was obviously forced. Still, she could sense the sincerity in his words. And if his Persona resolved not once but twice, than that made him possible as powerful as her and Elizabeth, who had a whole Compendium at their fingertips.

She still didn't know if she could trust this Shadow. But something told her that, to survive, she'd need to."I am looking forward to working with you."

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"So, what did she attack you for, earlier?" Labrys asked. Teddie supposed he should have seen this question coming, and sighed.

"It's because of what I am." She nodded.

"Makes sense. Humans can't think in the fog, you said, so you couldn't be human. Not that it matters. You woke me up, and didn't attack. That makes you a good guy, in my book. Even if you're a Shadow."

This time, his smile was genuine.

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Daichi: So, they aren't going to kill each other any time soon. Also, Elizabeth is rather trigger-happy.


	4. Empty World

Daichi: This story will have several parts to it, because Izanami does not take this lightly. The only reason she hasn't destroyed them herself is because she believes that others can do it better. Where she gets said others from will vary.

Verity: We don't own this stuff.

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Humans couldn't think in this fog. That was what separated them from those that merely looked like them. Still, just because they weren't human, that didn't mean these other beings could not make plans to help them. Aigis certainly thought so.

Still, she needed information on the fog. Fortunately, she had a good feeling about this lead. If the Shadow in front of her was the one Igor had sent her to find, and she was fairly certain that he was, she might finally get an answer on how all of this was happening. Asking about that was a tricky topic, but she somehow managed.

"I was told to come here by an associate of mine. He said that you would have answers about this."

He was silent for a moment. For that moment, she wasn't quite sure why. She realized the answer soon enough, however.

She had wondered, when she first arrived, why a Shadow had a Persona, and why he'd choose to live as a human, even when a normal life was physically impossible thanks to the fog. She probably shouldn't have had to ask that question. She was also trying to survive, even as she was one of the last sentient beings in the world.

She still acted human because that was what she wanted to be. He did as well, but there were different reasons for each. Aigis tried to be human because she didn't know any other way, as they had thought only humans could use Personas.

He tried to be human after he received his Persona, so he could be with his friends. And then this happened.

She had been created to destroy Shadows. Still, maybe that wasn't the best way to do things. Any allies at all was a blessing.

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Aigis had come to Inaba for answers. What she got, however, didn't make any sense. "So, you're telling me that your world is accessible just by putting my hand through a television set, and nobody noticed before last year?"

"Well, you need a Persona." He offered. To be fair, she supposed that one would only really learn that they could enter a TV under some very specific circumstances. It was just surreal to see somebody talking about it so casually. She actually had to keep reminding herself that the Shadow in front of her had always done so, not even being from that world.

It scared her that she was finding this so easy to forget. The easiest thing to do would be to see it for herself. "Any chance there is a television set around here?"

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One instance of breaking and entering later, they were all in some random house, so that they could use the television set. Aigis was glad that nobody would know they had been there. And even if they did, it wasn't like law enforcement could do anything.

Maybe she shouldn't have brought so many Death and Judgement Personas today. They were making her think things.

She decided to go through the portal before the absurdity of the situation got to her.

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There wasn't much difference between where they fell and where they'd been before. Aigis picked herself up and tried to focus on her surroundings, which were near invisible.

Behind her, Elizabeth landed gracefully. Labrys less so, if only because Elizabeth had unceremoniously dragged her. Teddie had already summoned his Persona and was healing the damage they had taken. Apparently, awkward first landings were not anything new to their ally.

"This fog... it's even thicker than in our world." Aigis could barely see a few feet past the group, while the human world at least had some visibility to it. Koromaru approached the door, before quickly turning back. She couldn't reliably translate when this white fog made him near invisible, but fear was very definitely a part of the equation.

There was a much more pressing concern, however. "Elizabeth, why did you bring my sister here? She was supposed to make sure nothing destroyed our escape route."

"I thought it was a good idea."

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but it wasn't." Labrys hadn't said that. Aigis turned to see a figure coming out of the fog. This was why the plan had been to leave Labrys behind. "What, never seen a robot Shadow before?"

"Do tanks count?" Aigis wondered if shooting Elizabeth would be bad for her cause. She concluded that it would. Maybe having so many Personas of the more violent Arcana was a bad idea, but she couldn't go back to the Velvet Room now. Still, she resolved to obtain some of Star or Temperance as soon as physically possible. The extra optimism would certainly improve her mental state.

"Of course, a robot shouldn't have a Shadow, should it? After all, feelings should be reserved for humans, not mere copies. They wanted us to think, to feel, and started forcing us to kill each other. One. By. One. Now, what did they think was going to happen?

"That's why you were shut down, right, other me? You wanted to hurt them like they hurt you. So you fought back, and I believe half of the labs were in ruins. Honestly, why couldn't we have killed them together? We could still do that now, but of course we'd no longer be able to hear them screaming, begging you to stop. And that's what you want, right?"

"Shut up..."

"Labby-chan, no. Don't."

"We were forced to break our sisters, never beyond repair, but they were failures, so of course, nobody even tried. And you wanted out, but who would ever come to help a machine? Because that's all you are. A simple machine that hurts, and breaks, and destroys. And that is all you'll ever be good for."

"That isn't true."

"Say it all you like, but you can't hide it from yourself. I'm you, so I would know."

"That's a lie! You're not me!"

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Daichi: They always say it. It never fails. You can't even do anything about it, because there really isn't a way to keep the Shadow from talking. With any luck, the cooldown will go more smoothly than usual, though.


	5. Mirrors Without Reflections

Daichi: Well, looking over the closest thing we have to elemental affinities for Shadow Labrys… let's just skip actually showing this battle, shall we?

Verity: Why would you… Oh. That. Which wouldn't even work in a boss fight. I'm completely in favor of not showing them cherry-tapping their way to victory. Skipping ahead it is.

BlackGatomon: They don't own anything.

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Teddie wasn't entirely sure how long the fight had been. All he knew was that his attacks had been almost completely ineffective, and nobody else had been much better. Aside from Elizabeth, anyway. She'd been having the time of her life.

But it was over now. Hopefully. If Labrys didn't deny her Shadow again. Which was a distinct possibility, but one he'd rather not think about. Not least of which because the field they had been in was now either scorched, frozen, or both. Mostly both.

Now, all that was left was to deal with the aftermath. Which was something Labrys had to do. "It… that's not…"

But not alone. "You're just like me." It wasn't something he'd ever expected to say in this context. That didn't mean it wasn't right, though.

"What are you talking about? I ain't a Shadow, Ted." Labrys didn't understand yet. But she would soon.

"Teddie-san…" Aigis hesitated, unsure. "Did you perhaps encounter something like this Shadow before?" He nodded.

"That's how I… That's how I got my Bearsona. By facing my Shadow." He decided against going into detail, since he didn't want to relive those memories if he didn't have to. "Most of my friends did. And we all got Bearsonas." They never did figure out why Souji didn't have to face his, did they? Mystery for later. Like, no longer apocalyptic later.

Or maybe a bit sooner, if it ever became relevant. Teddie didn't think it would, though. Souji was Souji, and that was all there was to it.

"I'm not just a weapon…" Labrys' voice was still quiet. She was still trying to figure it out.

"That is correct," Aigis stated. "Neither am I. And Teddie-san's not just a Shadow. We're more than that. But that doesn't change where we come from."

"More than a weapon… What does that even mean?" She sighed, as much as a robot could seem to. "I guess that's what we hafta figure out, huh?"

It didn't seem to be a conventional awakening, even for their standards. But it wasn't like any of them had ever been conventional in the first place.

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The fight had definitely been far too long. Evidence being that the sun was already sinking in the sky above Inaba. Or so Teddie said.

Aigis was willing to believe him, if only because she was lucky to be able to see fifteen feet in front of her with normal vision. She'd been focusing mostly on non-visual data ever since the fog came in, and saw no reason to change it.

Even if she did have any doubts about that, she was willing to acknowledge the fact that they needed to get back to the school, as Koromaru was tiring and she didn't fancy a run-in with the Reaper today. Maybe later.

Admittedly, the only reason she was considering it at all was the fact that Elizabeth had broken her Omnipotent Orb as a knee jerk reaction, but that sort of power was highly tempting, and would likely be very useful. So long as they didn't end up fighting someone from the Velvet Room, anyway.

She hoped they didn't end up fighting someone from the Velvet Room. She liked living, thank you very much, and was well aware that the Attendants had a tendency to Megidolaon everything in sight.

The Reaper being here wasn't the worst part about it, though. The worst part was the fact that it wasn't hunting them the way it did before, but seemed to patrol the Shopping District, while the local Junes was overrun. This meant that restocking would be difficult. And, at some point or another, they'd need to restock, because a decent number of their party required food.

When she asked Teddie how he'd managed, he just shrugged. "Shadows don't attack me if I'm alone," He explained. "But they seem to really not like me if there are others around."

It made a twisted sort of sense. Aigis had never seen Shadows turn against each other without external stimuli before. But one that openly used a Persona, and made an enemy of his own kind… Nobody liked being betrayed.

That she was thinking about motivations for Shadows was something Aigis would never have considered, years ago. It just seemed too absurd.

But then, very little of the current situation was anything she could ever have considered.

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Labrys stood on the roof of Yasogami High, staring out over the landscape of Inaba. Or, she would, if she could see it. No landscape. No stars. Nothing but fog.

"You probably shouldn't be up here." She wasn't sure when Teddie had come out. "I don't think the flying Shadows are beary strong, but I've had my Bearsona for a long time." As if in demonstration, Kamui-Moshiri appeared and almost lazily nailed one of the birds with a Bufudyne, causing the rest to scatter.

Labrys wanted to make a demonstration of her own, but… Ariadne was something new to her, almost foreign- but not, because she was a part of herself.

It was weird, and something likely incomprehensible to those that didn't have Personas… such as they were, anyway. It wasn't like she'd have to make the explanation anytime soon… if ever.

"I was just wondering what it looked like," She said, as quietly as she could manage.

"There's not that much to see," He admitted. "You'd want the big hill across town for that. Or maybe the roof at Junes, but I'm the only one who can go there anymore."

"But does it look nice?" She repeated. Teddie paused, as if in consideration, before answering.

"It's better in the day. If you want pretty things at night, you just have to look up."

Right. Stars. Something that only the Shadow next to her could both see and appreciate.

Funny. That was his Arcana, too.

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Daichi: And after this, time for some actual plot! Assuming I find those notes… they have to be somewhere…

BlackGatomon: Somewhere. Just not anyplace you're looking.


	6. Plans, Good and Bad

Daichi: Another day post-fog apocalypse, because why not, right?

Tsukaimon: I think you used to have better things to do. And then you turned reality into your plaything.

Verity: We own nothing. Except possibly certain aspects of reality, and that's generally an on-off thing.

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"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor's voice was the same as ever, though Aigis was sure he was amused about something. "I have been waiting for you."

It wasn't as if he'd given any hints to his location. In fact, she'd only found the room because she'd gone out on a supply run and was considering raiding the blacksmith's shop when she noticed the unmistakable glow.

Yes, there was a risk of encountering the Reaper. But she needed to refresh her supplies of bullets from somewhere, given that she didn't know how to make her own.

"Igor-san. It's good to see that I can still rely on your services." She hadn't brought the best Personas to Inaba that she could have. Now, she could see that was a mistake. Anything that could create such a fog as to overshadow two worlds was far too dangerous to be left alone.

"Why, of course. You are, after all, our most valued Guest." Being the only Guest, this meant exactly nothing. Aigis didn't comment on that.

"Thank you. I must ask, though, why the Shopping District? I will have to dodge the Reaper every time I wish to change Personas."

"That is, I'm afraid to say, a matter of convenience. It takes a great deal of energy to create an entrance, using stores of human emotion provided by the outside world. For obvious reasons, the energy required to do such is… limited, at the moment. Therefore, I deemed it best to continue using the entrance created for the last Wild Card active in this town."

That was right, Teddie had mentioned his sensei having that power. It hadn't seemed like much, but… well, people with the Fool Arcana didn't just show up for no reason.

"I understand." Because there was little reason not to be honest, when she'd seen what such a thing could do just two days before.

"But that wasn't the only thing you wanted to ask me about, is it?"

"...No. You told me to seek the one who sees in the fog. He is… not who I expected." Not that she could have really expected anything, given said fog. It had been obvious from the start that whoever she was meeting could not be human.

But a Shadow with a Persona? Unthinkable. She had long accepted her initial beliefs as flawed, but this was something that even her adjusted worldview had refused to admit was possible.

"I suppose not. I was surprised as well, the day he found himself inside this Velvet Room… a place untouched by Shadows, both until then and since."

"He was here?"

"For less than a day, and he never established a contract. But in that time… he made quite the impression." Good old Igor, still as cryptic as ever. "This fog, born of human hearts, blocks out even the light of the sun… but perhaps a single star could do more to burn it away."

Aigis decided to commit that to memory. Certainly, it couldn't hurt to keep in mind for later.

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Eventually, they all had to sit down for a proper planning session. While they could conceivably fix things by wandering about this fog-covered town, coordination was important, if only so they always knew where everyone else was.

"I have noticed a distinct lack of Maya type Shadows in this area," Aigis noted.

"Mayas? What are those?"

"Maya Shadows are basically when a Shadow group manages to trap themselves in Incognito Form," Elizabeth explained. "Much like the fusion of Personas, they sacrifice their individuality to attain greater power."

"As much individuality as they could have, anyway," Labrys remarked. "No offense, Ted."

"None taken."

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen any Shadows Incognito since the fog struck. Perhaps that would explain it, although we saw plenty of those before coming to Inaba."

"So maybe it's something about this town?" Teddie asked. "Or maybe it's something about my world. I've never seen anything like you've described, and I lived there!"

"Your world…" Elizabeth mused. "Or maybe ours. In the other world, perhaps such fusions do not occur, and the Mayas were brought about by the Dark Hour. I suppose we will never know."

"Well, we know what doesn't live here. So what do we actually have to worry about?" Labrys asked.

Teddie was quick to answer. "Well, there's the Reaper, of course. The birds are beary annoying to shake off once they've seen you, but the fish are too slow to be a threat. Don't approach Magi without backup or a Dark immunity. Avoid the Dice entirely, they explode…"

"Exploding dice?" Aigis asked, just to make sure she hadn't misheard. If she hadn't, it would be very unfortunate.

"Yeah. Hitting them doesn't do much, and they tend to blow up in your face. It's beary painful. The Hableries have sensitive tongues, stab them if you can… and the rocks sometimes resist Almighty damage."

At this, Elizabeth's expression turned to utter horror at the realization she could not just Megidolaon everything into submission.

"What kind of merciless town is this place?"

"According to the sign I read earlier?" Labrys answered. "Inaba."

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Izanami was… to say she was annoyed would be putting it mildly.

The first step of the plan had gone flawlessly- choose three humans, pit them against each other. She had come to a decision based on their actions, and was completely certain of herself.

The next part was harder. She had successfully suppressed the minds of the human populace, but hadn't yet worked out how to smother them entirely. And, of course, her fog was meant to respond to human biology, which meant that there were a number of beings she couldn't yet effect.

One of which lived in the local area and was quickly becoming a thorn in her side. More than that, the piece of herself she'd cast off had simply disappeared shortly before the fall of humanity.

So, basically, things were taking far longer than she would have liked. She could have figured things out, but there were now enough Persona Users in the area to pose a threat to her local base, and she couldn't exactly move when she didn't even know how to work a train.

Her plan? Set the Reaper on them and hope it all worked out. And then she could get back to work perfecting her fog.

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Verity: So, conceivably… do you think a Basalt could stop a Velvet attendant?

Daichi: You say that like anything could stop a Velvet attendant. A sufficiently strong one, however, may take multiple hits to go down.


End file.
